I thought it was bloody seal too when I saw the small picture:D But I like blowing things up so you guys got a decent picture:yuush:
Off too the river Bye;)
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I thought it was bloody seal too when I saw the small picture:D But I like blowing things up so you guys got a decent picture:yuush:
Off too the river Bye;)
Used to run into some big eel's when I was doing Dive maintenance on the hydro's. Always before the dive (which was normally around 2am) some smart arse would pipe up with, You should of seen the eel that Henry lost here last nite! broke his tow rope even. Don't like killing them, I reckon they are special, and should only be taken for special occasions. When you get into their life cycle ,it's pretty damn impressive,and who are we to take something out of the life cycle, who is so old and significant to our NZ waters.
Story my grandma used to tell me every school hols about a bloke in the rotoiti powerboat races who flipped his boat and lost the outboard ...
Mate of his offered to dive for it ... Got to the bottom and turned around and came straight back up ...
Told his mate there was no way he was diving through foot thick eels to save some outboard
We never swum in the lake ...
Tim
It was a case of hard luck last night Rushy but its still good to get out there.:D
the grey has some very large eels ,but lake brunner and its tributaries also house some bigguns. ivivdly remeber a cockie at kotuku dealing to one in molloy creek with a plug of gelignite after i took one too many nips at his kids swimming. It was estimated round the thirty pound mark ,growing fat on sheeps guts etc etc and other fauna that fell in the creek over the years.
I remember my cousin taking a 26lbeel out of another swimming hole in molloy creek ,with a spear made by our greatgreat grandather ,pop molloy.
a notorious legend has it that the arnold river once housed an eel so big it has to swim up into lake brunner to turn around.a little more gross is the fate of those unfortunate enough to drown in brunner -often found with fingertips,ears ,nose etc nibbled by curious eels.finally -again fifty plus years ago as a wee lad at lake brunner school we did a schooltrip to the kaimata dam to see the NZED divers inspecting it.one diver 9bloody hardcase0 reckoned the old eel who lived in the milkchurn at the base of the dam ,invited him in for a cuppa ,but he thought he'd check with us kids first in case we had any questions.typically we swallowed the tale hookline &sinker.
Ive seen CHCH city council workers hook decent ones out of the avon as they clean rubbish&weed.apparently some bigguns live in the avonwhere it flows through the botanic gardens,the presence of ducks galore is more than coincidence.
So what bait and tackle do you use to catch them out of interest??
Theres no rules mate. Spear, hinaki( net), or abot of string/ nylon. Hand line is easier than rod.
I used to suppy the local fish shop and got $2 a kilo.
I found the best bait was beef liver but let it get all smelly first. Fresh bait doesnt serm as effective for eels unless theres plenty of blood.
My pb was 12kg and that day i got $56 from the fish shop. Was all good for a 13 year old. :)
This is just my experience with eels :)
12guage off the bank and a gaff they concuss very easily
Fresh hare meat sticks well to the hook with a polywire line as the teeth don't cut through.
Watched a old Maori gut in Te Puke working the local stream one day. He had a sack and a gaff and walked the bank and stomped the bank in and the eels came out. Filled his sack in about 25m
Was bloody impressive but looking back not so good for the stream. If everyone used that technique the stream would be a mile wide :D
Fluffed up bit of flax rubbed with bacon works.